DxD The Golden Dragon (Revamped)
by Bel Incarno
Summary: Revamp of one of my earlier works that I wasn't too happy with. Basic premise is that a new character receives a gear courtesy of Fafnir, a golden dragon. Naegi is destined to stop the Welsh and Vanishing Dragons' cataclysmic battle.
1. Chapter One

A/N: In case anyone reading this is a previous reader, yes I did take the old version down. I just really wasn't happy with what I did with it, as well as some of the earlier writing. To free up the possibility of further exploring the side characters, I've switched to a third person perspective. Hopefully I get it right this time. Thank you. - End.

To sum up someone's life within something as simple as two syllables at first seems to be a disservice. But sometimes the smallest words hold the most untapped power. How long or complex a piece of language is has no true influence on the strength it holds. Think about it for a second. Words like love and war seem to leave a lasting impression every time they are thrown around. But such a word was unnecessary to describe his life. No. At least for the last few days, the only thing that could describe it is hollow. A hollow and monotonous start to the school year. A hollow confession. Oh and most of all, the hollowness in his stomach. He reached down for the gaping hole and ended up only drenching his hand in the heavy crimson mixture. With his hand now comfortably in his line of sight, red streaks flew across the orange sky, as his blood trickled down, landing near him. They say your life flashes before your eyes as you die. But the kid didn't have the luxury of witnessing every event. No. All he could think of was the previous day.

Ear piercing and grating waves of sound struck his ear in an absolutely merciless onslaught. His phone vibrated furiously on the desk, to the point of nearly falling off. "You know something." His voice echoed softly in the empty room. "Fuck. Waking up." He groaned and pushed himself off of the bed, with rather weak desire. Admittedly, the only problem he had with the morning was actually leaving the comfort of his own bed. Getting ready for school, by putting on his dark blazer with a basic white shirt underneath. "Bye Mom, bye Dad." He chuckled a little, waving at a photo. That was before the bright and unapologetic sun pierced his eyes and practically blinded him. "It's too hot to have this shit buttoned." His eyes shut to form a protective shield. Before long, they did the exact same thing but for the artificial and weak light in the classroom.

"Akiyama! It's the first day. Wake up." A rather annoyed voice called to the relaxed teenager.

Naegi raised his head to meet the dumbfounded eyes of his homeroom teacher. "We're just going over the syllabus. There is no point for me to be awake."

"Aside from a little thing called respect?"

"Oh, well I'm sorry Mr. Yagami." The brown eyed boy smirked. "Respectful enough?" Instead of meeting those eyes however, he met the top of his shaggy black hair. School rushed by as he slept through all his classes. Usually he walked alone, but for the past few days he has had a bit of company. It wasn't the kind of company where they come up and greet him, joke around or anything like that. No, this person hid their presence as much as possible. Tired of acting like he didn't notice her, Naegi turned around on a bridge, seeing a brown haired boy pass right by him. Behind him was a girl with flowing black hair down to her hips. She shyly approached him, maintaining eye contact.

"So this is really embarrassing but… are you Naegi?" His eyes darted around, landing on what appeared to be green hair that quickly disappeared.

"Uh. Yeah. What is this?"

"Don't you mean, who are you?" She says with a small smile and a heart gripping blush. "Well, I'm Yuma. I was just wondering if. Well if you would want to go out tomorrow?"

"Are you kidding me?" His eyes narrowed as he gazed at her. "This is supposed to be a joke right?"

She clutched her chest gently and turned her face to the side. "Oh… um. Yeah it's a joke. My friends put me up to it, sorry." She turned on her heel, hiding her face from him.

As he watched the only human that even tried to approach him walk away with a hurt look, he couldn't help but raise his voice. "Wait, stop." She doesn't even turn. "It wasn't a joke was it?" Her hair flowed side to side.

"Not really. But it's fine. You just me-"

"Where do you want to go?"

She turned just slow enough to let him see her lips return to a neutral position. "Um. How about we meet at the subway station and see where that takes us?"

"Sounds great. See you at 10." His lips curved up a tad bit before he walked home.

The next day he practically jumped out of bed. He prepared as quickly as he could, putting on a light gray dress shirt on. "Okay so how does a date go?" His face dropped in the mirror and suddenly he began breathing heavier. "Shit, shit shit. What am I supposed to do? What's okay and what isn't? It'll be fine. Just be yourself. Wait what if she doesn't like yourself? What made her like you in the first place?" Lost in a maze of deprecating thoughts, time passed with absolutely no warning. "Huh… it's 9:45." His eyes blinked rapidly in hope that the time would magically wind back a good 30 minutes. Without even locking his door, he burst out, accidentally running into many people. It seemed as though one of them slipped something into his pocket but he was thinking too frantically to even notice it. Soon enough, the sound of people meandering about, mindlessly conversing hit his ear. She worryingly looked around before spotting him.

"You made it!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Uh yeah. Sorry. There was a lot of traffic… on the sidewalk." His eyes dazed for a bit there. "And nothing else."

"Let's go. Come on." She dragged him by his arm into the train. They emerged at a plaza like area full of people but most importantly, stores. Footsteps bombarded them as if a stampede was approaching. To avoid the torrent of tourists, they hid themselves in an ice cream shop.

"Glad we avoided all of" He shuttered. "That." Camera flashes rivaled the unforgiving rays of the sun. He turned to see her eyeing all of the different flavors. With a slight smile, he walked over and paid for the two of them. They ate in the store out of fear that the heat would destroy the fragile treat. From there the two of them walked along carefully. She occasionally hid behind his arm, enticing an embarrassed glance from him before he avoided all eye contact. Time sped by fast and soon enough, the sun was setting. His mind raced as she suggested they go to a small fountain with a ton of privacy. Perfect darkness hid his bright cheeks as she dragged him up there.

"Naegi. I really enjoyed myself today." She smiled at him again, causing his heart to skip a beat. With a rather large smile, she placed her hands on his chest. "Your heart is moving so fast. Why don't you answer me?"

"Uh- I. I did too, Yuma."

"But…" She dug her head deep into his chest before turning and walking a few steps. With a now deeper and more serious tone she spoke. "I have orders." Her clothes went up in flames, being replaced with much darker ones. Though the revealing outfit isn't what caught his eye. No, it was the pitch black feathers on her wings. The only color that could even approach something so dark was that of her heart. A flash was all he saw before a spear hit him in the stomach, disintegrating on contact. The skin around the wound bubbled and sent blood spraying everywhere. His eyes widened and he fell to the ground. Interrupted breaths mixed in with screams. The wound opened itself more as he strained and moved around. He could feel every individual muscle tearing with his movements but the more pain there was, the more he was enticed to move. "Mmm. That's such a great look. Your eyes keep looking around you want it to be a dream." She quivered slightly. Those shy eyes were no more, her true character bled through them. Malice was all that were in them, aside from a bit of pleasure. "Please don't hate me Naegi." She cackled as she mimicked her softer voice.

"You sick… bitch." Even the small words, 3 syllables, strained him beyond belief.

"Now, now. There is absolutely no need to talk to me like that." A flash of black and gold overtake his hand for less than a second. Those same spears from earlier pierced him repeatedly, leaving him to be a bubbly mess. "I'd also rather not have humans close in on us. So I'll just leave you here. Bye, my love." She exaggerated her last word before disappearing.

Being near death, time becomes warped. One can reminisce on their life. Every second felt like an eternity. "Can I at least see them again if I die?" He wondered and dragged his battered hand up. Blood landed on his face, trickling down in place of the tears he had no energy for. "No dammit. I don't want to die. I can't. I… everyone says this. Don't they?" He chuckled and shut his eyes, unable to view the vicious glow tearing through his pocket. Crimson streaks flooded his mind in slow motion, and it felt as though he shut his eyes for the last time and would never see the light of day ever again.

Morning eventually does come however, as does a rebirth. Many people say that coming back from the brink of death can alter exactly how someone lives their life, whether they like it or not. Naegi's eyes fluttered open to see his bedroom ceiling. No pearly gates. No angels singing. Not even a cloud in sight. Truthfully, relief washed over him like the gentle light bathed the person next to him. Wait, next to him?

He nearly fell out of bed, seeing himself in boxers and a girl in front of him, fast asleep. The covers tangled and yanked off of her, revealing her entire body. On instinct, that flash of black and gold appeared, revealing a pair of gloves.. "You can put your gear away now." She chuckled.

"That's a charming way to say d-" He paused then looked down at his hands. Sleek black gloves with golden dragon heads on the back of them were now on his hands. He pulled at the dark bottoms of them as she sat down on his bed. "You… um. You gonna put clothes on?" He asked.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. Healing really only works well with skin to skin contact and you needed a lot of that." She whispered the next part. "Well that and clothes are chains that only get tangled when you want to have a nice rest."

"Healing?" He asked as the crimson haired stranger began slipping not just any outfit on. No, this was the uniform for his school. The lovely sapphires dangling in the middle of her head shot a glance at him as her lips curved upwards. Messy bangs flooded her face which she quickly moved with an exhale.

"Yeah. Healing. You did take… umm… let's just say"

"A fuck ton of spears?"

"Yeah..."

"So either that really happened. Or Im still dreaming and you're just a freaky part of this dream. In which case…" He approached the bed and looked under it. "Nope. No demons crawling out from there so it can't be a dream. Or at least not any dream I usually have. Im sorry, am I not letting you talk? I'm really bad at this and haven't had much experience. Also like. I'm still not fully sure that this isn't a dream if it is then I shouldn't shy away from telling you how b-. But then if it is then that makes things awkward and I really shouldn't finish that sentence."

"Guess we got ourselves a weird one this time…" She sighed and commanded his attention afterwards. "Listen. I'm Rias Gremory. Whether you choose to believe it or not, what happened a few nights ago did happen and you are going to continue to be in danger."

"No that can't be. Yuma… she."

"Raynare's her real name. Pretty annoying fallen angel if you ask me."

"So her growing wings and trying to kill me?"

"Yes. It's all real."

"Got it. Look, I like your offer and all. But I really don't have much to live for. If anything it would just make my life easier if you had left me there."

"That wasn't what you said when you were near that fountain."

"Yeah well people's opinions change. It's not an irregular thing. Maybe it was just my flight or fight reaction deciding that I wanted to get revenge. But now I can see that thinking that way is useless. Not that I'm not thankful for what you did."

"People will die. She's after something and will do anything to get it. Are you willing to let that weigh you down?"

"You said they would hunt me down right? Then seems like I don't have much time to let it weigh me down. You saw what she did to me. There's no way I can stop her."

"Oh yeah, she sneak attacked you while you didn't even know about your gear, big deal." She explained sassily.

"What the hell is this gear anyway?"

"You see those special little gloves on your hands right now? That's a sacred gear. Think of it as a special little item within your body that allows you to do things. Everyone's manifests different, some people can make swords. Others heal and yours lets your hand to hand combat increase."

"What makes me so special?"

"Nothing really." His eyes nearly pop out of his head. "Calm down, see. No one really knows why gears choose to manifest in people, but the signs start at an early age." She rests her head gently on her knee and stared right at him. "Your gear holds one of the heavenly dragons in it. Fafnir, the golden emperor. He manifested inside of you and we could really use you on the demon side."

"Wh-?" The sound of liquid pouring into a cup came from the other side of the door. The door opened and a man walked in with a cup of orange juice and a hand in his pants. Or at least he looked like a grown man, having to squat to fit in the doorway.

"So you really haven't convinced him yet? Damn Rias. That's crazy." He exaggerated the word crazy. "We're waging war against god, you in our out?"

"Where do I sign up?" Naegi stared at the red head, ignoring the man with the long brown hair.

"Got problems with God, Naegi?" Admittedly, hearing his name in a positive light was odd and gave him goosebumps.

"Nope. I made up my mind as soon as you said other people could be in danger. I just wanted to test to see how you would get me to join you." He smirked and stood up proudly.

"First… you die."

In a high pitched yet muffled voice, Naegi spoke. "I mean yeah I guess that makes sense, I already have experience with that and well. I should really let her explain this."

"No you don't have to die… Hanzo." She said in a frustrated tone. "You're going to have to absorb a chess piece."

"That doesn't sound too har-"

"Your body might reject them and it might kill ya." Hanzo waved then disappeared through a magical circle.

"He tends to joke around at the worst of times. There's only a slight chance of that." Once again, that smile appeared on her lips. Cleverly distracting him from the fact that she tossed eight pawns into his chest.

On command, his body began to ooze sweat with absolutely no restraint. He fell to his knees and grabbed his throat, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Goddamn! It feels like literally everything in my body is being stabbed. My cells are trying to kill me." He failed at trying to throw up before she rolled her eyes. "No? Don't like that joke?"

"I was worried about you, cunt." She, once again, gave him a playful smile before walking halfway through the school. "See you in the occult research club. Oh, join that by the way." She waved then all of her atoms disappeared from the room.

A surge of energy starting at his chest burst through him. "That's weird. Energy when I wake up. So this is the power of human interaction." He laid down and began trying to do push-ups, ending up falling flat on his face. "The power of human interaction is bullshit… Demon boosts, now that's something I can get behind." His eyes shut and he once again summoned the gloves from memory. Focusing all of his energy into his hands, he took a deep breath. His body lifted itself up, eventually reaching a completely vertical state. "Now to try and…" His body felt immensely heavy as he bent his elbows to try and lower himself. Real sweat began to trickle down his face. "One." He practically grunted before once again collapsing. "That's way better than I can normally do so I'll take it." His eyes met his clock before a shaky smile climbed its way onto his face. "Mr. Yagami's gonna be pissed. Wait I'm a demon now. I can probably control him or something." After he casually went through his usual morning routine, 1 hour later than it would usually take place, he took a leisurely stroll into his homeroom, arriving right at the end of it.

"So what's your excuse today? Didn't find it useful to come to the second day?"

"Nope." He stared right into the teacher's eyes, willing him to forget all about his absence. He whispered afterwards. "Wait shit. I didn't ask how to use any of my demon powers." His voice slightly raised. "Can I get a signup for a club?"

"What are you interested in?"

"Shit shit. Goddammit memory not now. Um. Cult."

"Occult Research?"

"That one?"

"Don't sound too confident."

"It's been a long couple of days okay. Forgive me for not remembering what definitely totally happened on Friday." His eyes formed an immovable thousand yard stare that even the sound of the bell couldn't break.

"Aren't you going to go to class?"

"Oh yeah. My favorite." He turned around after his last block and walked straight to the research club. He knocked gently on the club door. Timidly standing there, he admittedly didn't look too imposing, especially compared to the giant that opened the door.

"He's here!" Hanzo screamed before walking back to the kitchen where the sound of popping oil originated.

"My my." She had a hand suggestively close to her lips, her fingertip barely touching it. "So this is the newbie. Looks like a screamer."

"Umm." The high pitched voice returned. "Help?" He squealed slightly.

A spatula appeared out of the doorway of the kitchen. "Akeno, come here." Using the noise used for calming a dog, he practically forced her to retract. All he saw was her long black hair turning around and going into the kitchen. "Goddammit, that's the 3rd recruit you've almost killed this week. You need to chill. How are we supposed to fight God if you keep killing all of our soldiers?"

"Help." He awkwardly scooted onto the couch and looked off.

"Naegi is that you?" Relief drenched him in a wonderful feeling as he heard her calming voice to contrast the violent actions of the other two.

"Yeah it's me. I uh, clearly finished your request." He chuckled awkwardly before staring off into the kitchen. Purple eyes, belonging to the sadistic girl, stared right into the window of his soul.

"Maybe there is still time to escape."

"Nope. From here on out, you are my pawn."

"That's a lovely way of addressing people."

"No, I mean literal pawn. As in that's the piece you represent. See demons are split up into different categories depending on what they are meant to do. A knight, like Hanzo over there can deal a lot of damage in a short burst but may need a bit of support and proper set up before doing so. A queen like Akeno, well she's basically a right hand to me. She can command forces as well as attack using extremely strong magic."

"So what's my role?"

"You're a pawn. Meaning that you stay close and protect me at all costs. If you get to the enemy base you can rank yourself up to the level of either a knight, rook, bishop or queen."

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. "So what's the point of the other pieces?"

"You can't take their roles at all times. So they help balance out the fighting field." She chewed on her thumb, right where a slight mark was. "Or at least that's the idea, don't exactly have a full board yet. But for now, don't worry about combat. You will have to start by filling out contracts like the rest of us."

"So how many souls do I have to collect and what do I use to get them?"

"Umm. We don't collect souls." She laughed behind a hand. "We just fill out the requests and then the sheet collects the necessary amount of magic. Notice how it disappeared after you used it?"

"No because I was dying and I didn't have my pants on me afterwards."

"Forgot about that detail." She sighed then lit a magic circle under him. "This will let you teleport to your client's house. Tell them that you are from the Gremory house and fulfill their request. Some will be strange, it's fine."

A red not too far from that of her hair and his blood gently covered his face as he began to teleport away. Anticipation flooded through his entire body.


	2. Chapter Two

It felt as though his weight was leaving his body. At once his body dissipated and connected to a network he could never hope to understand. The world was connected by thin threads that connected across space and time. True peace was found within the millisecond of space time. Until his body returned to its mortal coil and weight returned to him yet again. "Ah what the fuck?!" He hits the ground hard.

"Looks like you aren't strong enough to teleport yet."

"Great. So now what, I walk?"

"You don't have to fill out the request just yet. It's safer to teleport."

"Nothing's gonna happen to me." His eyes narrowed in on the address detailed on the back of the thin brown sheet of paper. "Be back soon!"

"Wait, seriously?" She looked at him from the doorway, moving a bang out of her face. "He's gone. Should someone follow him?"

"He's nearby. Just keep a watch on the sky." Akeno told her.

"If anything suspicious happens, we rush over there."

Naegi's feet shook as though hurricane winds were smacking them. His body tumbled up the stairs. "Okay what do I have to do… I tell him Im… Why am I knocking?" The door sounded dense, as though it was meant to keep an olympic bodybuilder out.

"Who's there?"

"I'm Gremor- I'm Naegi from the house of Gremory. You ordered a demon?"

"You new?" The door opens to reveal a man with dark brown hair and bright yellow eyes. His aged face showed signs of intoxication.

"Sort of…"

"Well don't worry about it too much. I'll go easy on you. I really just want to talk to someone." Three taps echo around in the small apartment room.

"Talk? That's it?"

"Well yeah." The man pulled out a piece of paper similar to the one Naegi carried. "I get bored, sitting in this room all alone."

"I can understand that…" Conversation has a way of coming naturally after a while. Yellow eyes had a friendly and approachable demeanor and even complimented Naegi's incoherent babbling. Granted, that was only after having a few more alcoholic beverages.

"Wait you really think that I'm fun to talk to?"

"Kid, we've talked about… wait what have we talked about?" He chuckled. "Nevermind. Look, this was fun. You're contract is complete."

Red light that could rival the sun's illuminated the room. Singeing paper was the next sound, followed by those same three thumps. "Thank you. I'll be leaving."

"Lock my door!" He hiccuped a little, a smile on his face. Moonlight gently washed over the sides of the building, giving it what appeared to be a sort of ethereal glow. An array of colors surrounded the street. Perfect green leaves on deep brown stems contrast with the industrial gray of the sidewalk. Only the moon held strong enough light to pierce through the thick smog covering the town. The street was just quiet enough for him to only hear his footsteps. Naegi sighed softly and once again began leisurely strolling. A glow came from behind him right before a spear struck him in the back of his knee. Once again the flesh bubbled and boiled. His blood evaporated as it struck in the same spot.

"Looks like Raynare didn't finish the job." A heavy boot stomped on his spine. Naegi gasped as it felt as though his ribs were crushed under the pressure. "Shut up." That same boot strikes his side with enough force to send him into a nearby tree, causing splintering bark to fall all over him.

"I've got to… get to the club." He breathed heavily then dragged his hand through the dirt to lift himself. Shaky legs hardly maintained their balance with each millimeter he moved. A spear struck from one side through his other, burning through the bottom of his lung.

"You, aren't going anywhere." Naegi's eyes shut after an oncoming spear materialized in the angel's hand. Death's luminous glow flooded the street, causing him to once again form the shield around his eyes.

"Open your eyes!" A booming voice called to him. His gear activated itself and was glowing brightly. "I won't let my user die, not now. Clap your hands in his direction."

"Guess you're that dragon she talked about. Alright." Naegi did as he was told, his knees swaying. Death's light seemed dim compared to the one his will created. Twin dragon heads on the back of his gloves burned with fury, creating a sort of flash bang. An ear piercing shriek came from the evil creature as it retreated. A gentle breeze pierced through the boiling holes in his body. What barely shook the leaves on the trees above nearly made him topple. Each step brought a more intense wobble to it. Naegi gushed blood from each area possible. His clothes were stained and most of all, he felt closer to death than before. Darkness consumed him for mere seconds before gentle raindrops tapped his head, pulling him back to the world with one hell of a grip. Well, that and the fact that hope was before him. The doorknob clicked wonderfully as it turned and brought his salvation. "Sorry… Blood… carpet." Every other word was ripped brutally from his lung, even with his minimalistic speech. Once again, he allowed darkness to wrap it's cold grip around him as his physical form was surrounded by the thick red liquid that pulled him into demonic life in the first place.

Akeno turned after hearing the deep breathing. "What happened?" She asked, walking over and inspecting the wounds. Her fingers tenderly search for the presence of a pulse. "Still alive. Just barely."

Hanzo walked in, holding a vacuum. "Blood all over the carpet huh… you know. That's just great" An attempt to soften the heavy atmosphere. "Rias, he's back. Might want to hurry up."

"Naegi?" She witnessed Akeno holding what appeared to be a lifeless husk. Emotions peered through her facade, though she turned and maintained composure. "Get him into the guest room. Hanzo, you're clearly ready to clean up. Akeno and I will see what we can do to seal the wounds and heal him." Her face turned to Akeno, revealing a sort of pride to it.

For hours they tried to find some way to repair the damage to the inner organs. Soon enough, a mixture was made that allowed the tissue to regrow and seal itself. Now with steady breath and a readable pulse. Rias began to try and heal his body. Akeno stopped her. "His breathing is normal now. He's not going to die. Unless he almost gets himself killed again. He wanted to go out and complete the contract, knowing the dangers. It will be a learning experience. He'll know this pain for years and that's what's going to stop him from making bad decisions like that again. Now, I'm going to go help cleanup."

Rias responded with a somewhat shaky smile. After the door to the room shut. "And I let him make that decision." She whispered softly. "They call me King and yet I have no authority. I couldn't even stop my pawn from almost getting himself killed." She furiously nibbled on her thumb again. "I'm sorry. I dragged you into this. I- I couldn't stop you, or them. Guess I need to figure out how to lead."

Naegi's left eye twitched after the door had been nearly knocked off its hinges with a powerful kick. Hanzo's eyes widened before he inspects the door for damages. "Can't have this get fucked up too…" He repeatedly opened and closed it, getting a frustrated look from the red headed matriarch. "Hey Kid! Wake up." A glass was placed gently on the drawer next to the bed. "This is yours. Well, mine now. But it was yours. If you want it back, wake the hell up." In a matter of a few seconds, there was once again the sound of liquid being poured. "This is the carton from your house. That shit is delicious."

"Hanzo, he was near death a few hours ago. Can't expect him to wake up on command."

"Oh he'll wake up. He'll get up and take it back. That or you know, just drink it for the vitamins. Have you seen this kid's fridge? He has nothing in it. Aside from like an expired gallon of milk that hasn't been touched. Tell me when he wakes up. I have to talk with him about something." He shuddered then closed his eyes, seeing red everywhere.

"Yeah… when he gets up." If there was a word she had to remove from her vocabulary it was the word if. See, If has a strength to it. Really, any word that doesn't guarantee an outcome can destroy the very foundations of what one holds true, as well as there mental stability.

Hours passed and she couldn't bring herself to move. She needed to verify that she hadn't gotten him killed, for the sake of her sanity. "Well looks like I died again." He sat up, gasping deeply and gripping his side. "This isn't my room."

"You're awake." Looking into her eyes, he found nothing except sorrow and pride. "I was worried about you." She repeated.

"My bad. Guess I really fucked this one u-" Right before he completed his sentence, he witnessed the cup on the stand before shaking his head.

"No. It was my fault. I was the one who told you about the danger. I knew what could have happened… and still, I let you go. There was so much I could have done to stop you."

"Calm down. It's not your fault. Think about it for a second, I'm the one who walked out of that door, knowing I can't fight a fallen angel."

"But…"

He interrupted. "No buts. There's nothing to argue about. It's completely my fault."

"Do you regret your choice? Becoming a demon?"

"No, not really. Not like it will keep me from living a normal life."

"You think so? I've never really had a choice."

"Were you turned into a demon young?"

She giggled then stared at the door. "No. I was born one. Not all demons are turned." After a moment of silence, she moved to exit the room. "Rest up. I'll get one of them to keep watch." Naegi appeared to be far too deep in thought to even respond to the question. Soon he saw a small light and his eyes felt heavy.

Rias crossed her arms over her chest and started pacing around his door. Her long red hair messily covering her face, as well as the pride in her eyes. "You need to stop worrying." Purple eyes pierce through the hair to meet her own.

"How can I? I cou-"

"You're our leader. Start acting like it. You can't be insecure after every little slip up."

"What do you think of him?" Rias asked, her voice still tingling from the power of anxiety.

"I met him like 3 hours ago. You can't expect me to know anything about him. Only way to see what he knows is to train him. His gear is definitely strong but it will take time to learn. He seems to be devoted to help the club, but that got him into trouble. It could be his downfall."

"Downfall huh… Got it. Thanks."

"So is that a yes on the training?" Her eyes burned with anticipation.

"Tell Hanzo to prepare the field." The two shared a smile before going to their respective rooms. Night passed with nothing happening.

"Wake up, cunt!" Due to the fact that he didn't hear the door open, Naegi assumed the knight was gentler with it.

"Oh yeah definitely just insult me immediately you know. Not a big deal." He whispered.

"First, you bleed all over MY, well the club's, but really MY carpet like some unhygienic 13 year old girl. Then you don't drink the oj I so generously stole from your fridge and now there's flies in the room. I hate flies!" One was split in half on the ground, seemingly cut in one motion.

"So why did you try to wake me up?"

"Oh. It's training day. We're gonna teach you how to use your gear."

"Can I shower first?"

"Nope." With an arm that could easily wrap around the slimmer boy's body, Hanzo dragged him off. "You can't teleport so I'm dragging you over there. They're already waiting." After a nauseating journey consisting of jumping and the occasional flight, Naegi lands on the ground, throwing up once he can feel the weight under his feet again.

"Why didn't you tell me… we could fly?" Naegi wiped the side of his mouth.

"It's more gliding than flying. Teaching you to activate your wings would take too long. Flex your back by the way." Two dark wings sprouted from his shoulder blades. In contrast to the ones held by fallen angels, his were much more jagged. Tainted wings still had the elegance and grace of those presumably given by God. Their dark color perfectly absorbed the light around them, leaving them forever shrouded in darkness. However his had rough angles to them, and flapping felt nearly impossible.

"I did that in seconds. You couldn't have taught me before basically kidnapping me?"

"No I couldn't. Cause I didn't want to wait to punch you until you make up for that blood on the floor."

"I said sorry, but I mean…"

"Stop mumbling! Activate your gear, I won't even use my weapon."

"Doesn't sound fair but that hasn't stopped me before." With his hair now fittingly flowing in the wind to add to the drama, Naegi activated his gear.

"Start." Pooling all his strength into his legs, Naegi dashed straight forward. Hanzo struck a defensive stance afterwards before seeing the young man smirk. He clapped his hands together, shutting his eyes in the process. After the flash of light blinded his opponent, he twisted his feet and turned his shoulder to land one punch right in the gut. After feeling the rough surface, he twisted to add to the pain. "Not a bad strategy, using what I don't know about your gear." Instantly, it felt as though his organs shot through his spine after the much larger fist caved his stomach in. "But don't show your move off until you can guarantee a kill." Now with two hands clapped together, Hanzo brought what felt like 100 pound weights down on his back. Naegi was thrown comfortably into his own hole in the ground, blood comfortably leaking from where the fists struck.

"I'm dying here."

"If you're really going to give up then I might as well fix the landscape." Eyeing a cabin in the distance, he turned to walk away. Naegi jumped out, launching himself in the air for a gravity assisted punch. His fist was met with an open palm. "Sorry. Borrowed your strategy. You thought I was slow because of my size." Quickly tapping his back, Naegi wet his fingertips then sent blood into his opponents eyes, a miracle kick to the wrist allowed him to break free of the grip. Winded with absolutely no strength in his left arm, he stood and watched, hoping he at least did something.

"Is… training over?"

"No." Without bothering to wipe the blood from his eyes, Hanzo approached the boy who nearly lost his footing. Approaching with an arm comfortably prepared to swing, his footsteps shaking the ground beneath them.

"Damn. Here I was thinking I could take a break."

"You won't get a break all day. You have two more exercises after this."

"Wh-" In that moment the distance was closed, his gear lit up and allowed him to see the fist moving towards him, as well as the heavy swing that came with it. He pivoted out of the way, gently pushing Hanzo to make him lose his balance just enough to trip over the very hole made by his body earlier. As he was falling, Hanzo grabbed the boy's shirt and tossed him, the angle causing Naegi to slide through the dirt. An ever changing field of vision and his eyes reluctance to see what's in front of him made it difficult to see the brown haired giant stand up. "Now training's over. 10 minute break then you move onto Akeno."

"Oh great… 10 minutes… that's." His eyes shut and his held tilted to the side before snapping back due to a wild shake.

"No sleeping." He said facetiously before teleporting away, leaving Naegi to ponder what horrors would await him during the next trial.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: So apparently it takes the entire world shutting down for me to get off my ass and actually write something. I'm sure that comment won't date this chapter at all. But nonetheless, I wanted to apologize for the unreasonably long wait. I have absolutely no excuse. With that out of the way, thank you to anyone still reading this and once again, I'm sorry. -End of Author's Note

Such a mundane task as waiting after having his first real taste of combat led him to furiously tap his foot. "I can't rest… Can I honestly do this?" See, silence and solitude gives people time to reflect. When people reflect, what stares back at them may be far uglier than what should be there. The human, or demon in this case, has a way of tearing itself down. It's own ability to perceive things allows it to witness firsthand how fragile it is. As he approached the empty field surrounded by heavy clouds, his legs shook more than when he was walking back to the club. Not because his body said it was injured, but because his mind decided they were. "Goddam-" A shock went through his brain immediately, causing him to duck for cover, tearing at his scalp. "Okay that's new. Avoid saying Go-" At that point, it became his fault "You know what. GOD." His voice became a roar that pierced his lungs. That was until the pain made him squeal and roll all over the floor, leaving rough green stains all over his clothes.

"He's filthy." Hanzo mumbled from a safe distance, right outside of the rain clouds.

Dressed in nothing more than a robe, Akeno flew up to the sky. "Wait I thought we couldn't fly."

"Who told you that?" She chuckled audibly before practically disappearing into the clouds. "Don't answer I have an idea." The clouds spread off into the distance, pulling Hanzo into their radius, who looked up with a concerned laugh. "Look, all you have to do is dodge the lightning using your gear in anyway or something. Really I just want to see what one of these bolts does to you."

"Help." He squealed again. "Wait no one is going to help me."

"Shut up and get ready to fight." The voice from the gloves commanded. "We aren't exactly light speed. Let's just hope that she uses the first few to test the magic out. You aren't strong enough to use any other abilities."

"Great another inconvenience… How do I know when the lig-" His answer came in the form of a blast strong enough to cause his body to twitch violently on the ground.

"That shouldn't have been enough to do that." She laughed. "So you can't really take a hit. Okay…"

"Wait," His eyes began scanning the clouds as he ran frantically. "I didn't get to see the sky. This isn't fair."

Her voice echoes from far away. "Too bad. An opponent won't let you figure them out before the fight."

Soft soil was being kicked up with every single desperate step he took. "Okay calm down Naegi. Just think about it for a second. Electricity is attracted to metal. So if I can make her strike…" His eyes look across the whole field. "There's no metal here." Horror reached his fingertips, causing them to twitch rapidly. "Her voice sounded far away." His breathing was growing heavy by this point. Lightning struck a few feet behind him. "Maybe she can't see me." His spit felt heavier than ever as he swallowed down. He tore a sleeve off of his shirt and threw it behind him, hearing it get vaporized. "The clouds…" Wanting to test his theory more, the boy began moving in circles, paying close attention to the sky while measuring the distance between blasts.

"I'm going to stop holding back now. Don't take it personally though. Can't have any weak pawns." Once again, that bone chilling chuckle echoed in his ears. With chuckling slowly turning into cackling in the distance, Naegi shut his eyes for a mere second out of fear. One wet tear slipped off of his face and flew behind him, mixed in with the sweat.

His feet came to a screeching stop after a bolt struck directly in front of him. "Yeah that's… um. Fine." Sparks in the clouds directly above him grew far more intense. Once they concentrated on one point he jumped back, this strike was much larger than any before it. The skin around his leg was charred to the point where he was afraid the wind would blow the ashes away. Putting pressure on it was no longer a feasible action. "I don't…" Two streams began flowing down his face out of fear of what he could potentially lose. "I don't want to die." This time he could hear the electricity in the clouds as well as his heart thumping in his ears. The lightning fell down.

"Naegi, punch now!" His glove turned a bright yellow color before a dragon flew from the fist and tore through the lightning, causing it to disperse. With a now more exhausted expression, the black haired boy kept panting heavily. His legs buckled and his body slumped over. Knowing that something was coming directly for him, he attempted to stand up straight only to trip over his own legs. Right before he fell back, he witnessed one last strike coming down, hitting him right in the stomach. His torso felt as though it was split in two forcibly. His weak body could hardly resist being torn apart and burned by the bolt. Convulsing muscles prevented him from even trying to stand up.

"That one shouldn't have killed him." She whispered during her descent.

Hanzo stood up, staring at the metal swords he dug into the ground to act as lightning rods. "She really included me in that. Good thing I made that…" He jumped from the area he was to right next to Naegi. "Hey, Kid. Get up."

He twitched rapidly and his eyes darted around. "Who's there?" Naegi questioned through obscured vision.

"Still conscious that's good."

"Well obviously. I held back. I just wanted to make him feel like he would die. If I wanted to, I could have made that last one vaporize him. But, it was just weak enough to not break his skin. Don't want to spread blood on the grass."

"Yet you lit it on fire." Naegi chuckled, staring straight up. "Demons make no sense."

"You're including yourself in that statement." Hanzo smirked. "Alright, training's cancelled."

"You don't get to decide that. I still have one exercise." Between each word, his chest rose and fell at an incredible rate.

"I do get to decide that considering you can't even move."

"No… not yet. First I can't teleport and put myself in danger. Then I can't even finish a training exercise. I'm not pulling my weight."

"You don't have to for now." Akeno gave what appeared to be a real smile before reverting to a serious, and rather angry look. "You need to learn to rest. Otherwise you're just going to end up worrying everyone around you. You can't move. Training is over."

"Then." Placing a hand on the ember latent ground, he attempts to lift himself. Vomit shot from his mouth faster than the orb he sent once he was upright. "I'm going to tell her myself." He uses the side of his fist to wipe the bit of vomit off.

"Chances are you won't make the walk. Your legs will give out before you get halfway up there. But that's your stupid decision. Come on Hanzo, we're going." In silence, the Knight and Queen exit.

"I probably won't." There were two worlds in front of him, both of which rapidly moved against each other, as if one wanted to become dominant. Yet, the two of them were evenly matched and equally relentless. An urge to vomit overtook him once again. This time he managed to stomach it and start moving. Each step burned holes through his calves, or at least that's what it felt like. An unrelenting desire to correctly finish at least one task given to him was all that was keeping him going. Deprecation loomed eerily over each thought that had the displeasure of wandering into the desolate wasteland his brain called home. Admittedly, keeping his mind off of the immense pain all over his body even if it was to emotionally harm himself, made the walk more bearable. "Did I make it?" Air was leaving his lungs faster than it was entering. Wheeze after wheeze bursts through his mouth before he takes a seat behind Rias.

"Just barely." She spoke seriously.

"Good. Training's cancelled by the way." His eyes shut tightly.

"I can tell." Her eyes wandered around the sky. "Sorry for how she acted. She took it way too far."

"Ah no worries. Will every day be this hard?" His chest fell and rose nearly one hundred times per second.

"Oh no this is just the introduction." She rested on her bent knee once again. "It'll get much harder from here on out. But you'll have plenty of rest in between. Especially considering you were nearly electrocuted."

"Thanks for the consideration." Her eyes still hadn't turned to see him. "Shit, I can't move anymore."

"Did I hear you can't move?!" Hanzo raised his voice in a cheesily heroic manner. "Fear not, for…"

"Please stop, this is more painful than my wounds."

"I must take you home! It's what heroes do." Hanzo's large arm felt as though it severed his torso from his legs after he lifted him up. "We will fly."

"No." With a raspy and deepened voice, Naegi cried out. "Seriously… put me down."

"Hanzo." Her bright hair folded smoothly over the back of her palm. "You'll probably kill him."

"Dying. Definitely dying."

"You really are no fun." He tossed him carelessly. "I didn't mean to do that. I uh- I'm gonna go." His voice was rife with triumph.

"I think he broke my spine…" Rias sighed in response to his comment.

"Feeling any stronger?" She scooted closer.

"Not at all."

"Figured, it's only the first day. Just don't give up, I'm sure you'll get stronger." She stood up, looking down at him.

"How am I gonna get home? I can't teleport."

"No need to worry, we have beds over here. Did you not see the house on the way over here?"

"I couldn't see anything thanks to that monster that dragged me over here. He also came here slowly so I would think he couldn't move fast. That bastard." She helped him lift up to his feet.

"It's the least I could do."

His eyes were gently shut. "I can barely feel the ground under me." They didn't speak during their walk to the house. He couldn't summon the strength to inhale at times and grew winded with only a few steps. She had a distant look on her face the entire time and he didn't want to interrupt her thoughts.

Naegi threw himself onto the bed, not even bothering to cover himself up. The mattress beneath him accepted him as one of its own and they fused together, making it admittedly difficult for Naegi to breathe. It was as though he was inside of a capsule. There was nothing but a void surrounding him with a rather clear seam down the middle being the only source of light. A consistent and heavy sound ricocheted off of every wall surrounding him. Gusts of wind sharp enough to slit his cheek yet strong enough to make him fall back slightly.

"Hello there, I believe this is our first time meeting face to face." A grumbling voice bellowed.

"Hey." The dragon exhaled and a sort of energy fell out, illuminating the ground below them. Glorious yellow flames erupted beneath them, finally giving Naegi a chance to view the creature in front of him. Its scales were jagged and sharply pointed in every direction. Most of them were a reflective and bright yellow. The dragon's stomach and chest was a deep black that almost drowned out the light around it.

It moved its head closer and let off an exhale that sent his hair flying back. "You're an odd one. No fear in your eyes or even much interest."

"Of course not, this is a dream. You can't hurt me."

"Yet weirdly rational." Fafnir surrounded Naegi with his jagged body and closed in on him. "I can harm you in the real world though, remember how many times I've saved you."

A thousand thoughts ran through his mind within seconds. He brought up his hand gently and dragged it roughly against the scales, flinching after feeling his hand burst open. Blood gushed out before trickling down his forearm. It pooled up against the bottom before falling into the careless void beneath them. "Normally something like that would kick me out of a nightmare. You're real aren't you?" His face contorted in pain and he felt his hand twitch.

"Nevermind, you are nothing but a fool." Two mighty yellow eyes shut, completely ignoring the teenager in front of them.

"You know it's not very kind to insult people you just met. Especially when your body is bound to that person. But I guess it was dumb of me to do that… If I wake up with this cut, I'm gonna be pissed. You're not really paying attention to me are you? Is it because I'm not letting you ta-" With another skin splitting gust of wind, the dragon sent Naegi flying back, slamming against the edge of their dimension. Weightlessness similar to the feeling of teleporting overcame the half of his body that stuck out of the world. He screamed as his left side atomized and was removed from the world. A cold sweat poured over him and he sat up in bed, fighting to not let out a scream. He lifted his shirt to witness the broken skin around the lightning wound, along with a few burns. "Is it really too late for me to leave?" Nauseousness overcame every other sensation and he heaved into his hand. His new found demonic agility wasn't nearly enough to save him from slipping out of bed and smacking into the ground. Shaking hands barely managed to lift him to his feet, where he proceeded to breathe heavily. Every exhale burned the inside of his lungs. Sneaking around wasn't too difficult as his body refused to move any faster than a snail surrounded by a ring of salt.

"Sneaking out are we?" He heard a voice that was way too cheery to catch him call out.

"Kinda yeah. I mean you people did almost kill me yesterday. I was also hoping you"

Her purple eyes shut and opened rapidly. "But you were strong enough to live that big one at the end. Even if I did hold back."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better. You're way more dangerous than you let on, honestly it's terrifying."

"My my, as long as Rias doesn't want me to, I won't hurt you. As a matter of fact, how would you like to go shopping with me right now?"

"Last time I went shopping with a girl like you, I ended up getting stabbed." Visible anger spread across her face after being compared to a fallen angel. "That considered, I really don't know much about any of you and would like to learn. So just gimme a sec to change and please don't take offense to anything I say, I put my foot in my mouth a lot."

She smiled at him, "I'll be waiting right here."

"How the hell do I talk to her?" He whispered at a safe distance before taking a quick shower. His sore body greatly appreciated the freezing water. A lot of the pain alleviated aside from the burning on his stomach. He moved much faster than he did earlier. Sure enough, his dark haired senior was waiting patiently, taking the time out to enjoy the sky.

"You can't fly and carrying you around isn't too appealing… why can't you teleport yet?" She groaned.

"If you want, I can just walk to the grocery store."

She giggled, "As if, it's obvious that leaving you alone is never a good idea. Especially with two fallen angel attacks within such a short amount of time."

"You know it's not like I wanted them to-"

"Please stop mumbling," She spoke oddly respectfully. "It's okay, we can walk." With that, they went down a roughly outlined path through the forest and into the nearby town. She showed a general disinterest in talking about her past, or even any of the other pieces along the way. Anytime he asked a question about them, it was met with a quick and dismissive answer. Out of fear of saying something disrespectful again, Naegi gulped down the rest of his questions, and let them melt in his stomach acids. People in the town cheerily greeted the girl to which she waved back with a smile. His brown eyes fixated themselves on their surroundings. "Stop looking around so much, if anyone was trailing us, it's best we surprise them." She spoke softly, "and if anyone does come, I'll handle them. So try to relax a little okay? Rias wants to make sure everyone rests today."

"She did mention having rest between training." Walking for so long caused a bit of the pain to return, evident by the fact that he was limping. "All things considered, I think I'm gonna enjoy my time with you guys. Even if I am a lowly pawn."

"Even that piece has its importance. You'll get used to your role eventually." Around them was a comfortable sort of farmer's market. Fresh produce was everywhere in sight, being sold by smiling people who genuinely enjoy the job they do. Akeno moved around with a familiarity that made it difficult for Naegi to keep up. She lost him within minutes and he ended up sighing loudly.

He wobbled into a short girl with flowing blonde hair. She squealed slightly as her body was thrusted forward and she nearly knocked over some of the fruit in front of her. "Shit, I'm sorry." He quickly apologized and grabbed a few of the fruits midair before placing them back into the display.

"It's okay, trust me." She smiled brightly at him, her small face only emphasizing how wide it was. "You walked in with the dark haired girl right? I saw that you're having trouble with your leg."

"Yeah… it's been bothering me for a bit now." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"You have nothing to worry about. I'm sure the grace of God will heal you." She clasped her hands around his and for a second, he swore he saw a green light.

"Uhh sure yeah. Really no need to pray though." He tilted his head slightly.

"You have such an odd reaction to the blessings of our lord. Could you be a nonbeliever?"

Thinking for a second before responding, he spoke up. "Something like that, I guess. Never really got along with God."

The beam on her face only widened because of his response. "God can forgive you. No one is ever completely lost. I'm sure one day you'll find your way back to the light and I will be sure to pray for you. What's your name?"

"Naegi. But really, you don't have to pray for me. Even if I'm not lost, there's no need to save someone you don't know."

"As emissaries of God, it's our job to help those in need. Even those of us who have done wrong in the past." Her smile shook a little. "I should really get back to my home. Will I see you around?" She asks, cradling a brown bag.

"Maybe. What's your name?"

"Asia." She waved gently, walking off. As her back turned to him, Naegi felt a chill run down his spine. It was as though she faded before his very eyes. A call from Akeno snapped him out of his head. He took a deep breath and looked off in the small girl's direction, a black feather falling behind her. His heart sunk and his fingertips shook before he witnessed a crow flying above the feather. Naegi exhaled out of relief with shut eyes and smiled before turning back to Akeno.


End file.
